Sunday, March 31, 2013

For yourselves know how ye ought to follow us:
for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you;

Neither did we eat any man's bread for nought;
but wrought with labour and travail night and day, that we might not be
chargeable to any of you:

Not because we have not power, but to make
ourselves an ensample unto you to follow us.

For even when we were with you, this we
commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.

For we hear that there are some which walk among
you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies.

The word disorderly is a
military term that means, "out of rank". It isn't necessarily
unlawful, but may mean something as simple as

Not being in your
place

Not fulfilling your
duties

I am reminded of the
ancient Greek Hoplite soldier. He was not a professional but a member of the
community. When called upon he would armor up and take his place in the battle
line. The Hoplite battle strategy reminds me of Ephesians 2 where each member
is fitly framed together.

His fellow soldiers
depended in him being in place

His family and town
depended on him taking his place

Disorderly would be the
opposite of virtuous.

The Christian life is that
of a spiritual soldier. Each one of us has a place. We don't write the rules
neither do we change them. Our task is to do them.

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the
traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.

Because of their calling

Because of their deliverance from the
Tribulation

Because of the judgment coming on those who
would not obey the Gospel

The Word
exhorts the believer to hold the traditions we have been taught.

Many
Christians believe that, since the Jews held their traditions above the Word of
God and were rebuked of the Lord, then we are better to hold no traditions at
all. The position is as an errant one as it is extreme. It is the careless
Christian who removes those landmarks his fathers planted and changes those
traditions his teachers gave him. It is a mistake with a huge price tag.

It doesn't mean that the one who changes is
lost

It does mean he contributes to the slide of
the faith into laodiceanism

There are
some things we can see have been done wrong by earlier generations of
Christians but the answer is not to throw away everything we have been taught. The
answer is to carefully hold on to those things that remain lest we also let
them slip.

To
recover lost ground at the expense of what ground we hold is never wise.

Friday, March 29, 2013

We are bound to thank God always for you,
brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the
charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth;

So that we ourselves glory
in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your
persecutions and tribulations that ye endure:

Paul gave
two reasons to be thankful for these Christians and one reason he boasted about
them to others:

Because
their faith grew exceedingly

Gill
writes:

“Their
faith was not a faith of miracles, nor a mere historical faith, or a
counterfeit and temporary one, but the faith of God's elect; which is the
evidence of things not seen, of an unseen Christ, and the glories of another
world; that grace by which a man goes out of himself to Christ for
righteousness, life, and salvation; by which he is justified, and by which he
lives on Christ, and walks on in him as he has received him.”

Because
their charity abounded

This
charity was “toward each
other.” I take the position that
charity is a unique sort of love a Christian has for his or her church. These
Christians abounded in that charity.

Because
of their patience and faith during persecution and tribulation

Paul
assured them that their suffering was a token of the judgment of God and that
it would be returned upon those who had persecuted them. Suffering is never
pleasant. But to patiently endure it for Christ's sake, believing that God will
use it for His own glory and to not strike back for our own protection; this is
something all heaven takes note of.

Thursday, March 28, 2013

And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which
labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you;

We have in this verse the
three duties of the pastor, in other parts of the Bible described as

Shepherd

Bishop and

Overseer

Here described not by office
but by work.

He is a laborer

He is a leader and

He is an admonisher

His work is labor, real
work

It is exhausting and
draining both to the body and spirit.

His work is leadership

He provides direction and
rule.

His work is also one of
warning

He is to point out dangers
in the current course of ones life.

I see in this passage three
positions of the pastor relative to his congregation:

He is among them

He is not a lord over them.
He is an equal to them. He mixes with them as an example and as a peer.

He is over them

Not in the sense that he
has some special power they do not possess but he does have an office they do
not possess. He is equal to them, but he has been charged with leadership for
them.

He is to care for them

To admonish requires
compassion and care. He loves his congregation. He would never choose to harm
them but only to help them. If his warnings seem firm or blunt it is only in
proportion to the danger he sees for them.

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and
exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to
walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.

1 Thessalonians 4:10 KJV

And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren
which are in all Macedonia:
but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more;

This
chapter uses the phrase "more and more"
two times. It is obvious then that the Christian life is not to be considered a
stagnant one, but an ever growing one. Paul wasn't in Thessalonica long but he
was there long enough to have taught them those commands that are most basic to
faith. From there, he told them they should simply grow more and more.

How we
practice the faith is a relatively easy thing.

We take what we have been taught and we
grow with it

We do what we have been taught to do and

We do it better and

We do it more

As we
practice our faith we will learn more doctrine and more truth. We will discover
more application of Biblical teaching. We simply add that to those things we
grow in.

The Christian
life is not to be a shallow knowledge of a few doctrines but an ever more
intimate knowledge of all those things that God has prepared for us.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

And sent Timotheus, our brother, and minister of
God, and our fellowlabourer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you, and to
comfort you concerning your faith:

That no man should be moved by these afflictions:
for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto.

For verily, when we were with you, we told you
before that we should suffer tribulation; even as it came to pass, and ye know.

For this cause, when I could no longer forbear,
I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter have tempted you, and
our labour be in vain.

Paul's preaching would
certainly not be popular today as he warned people that they must suffer. But
knowing that it must happen in no way created in Paul apathy towards it. He
sent Timothy to Thessalonica, he said, for three reasons:

To establish them

To comfort them and

To know their faith

Trial is a part of life and
it is most surely a part of faith.

In some cases trials
cause people to shrink back

In other cases it causes
them to quit completely, but

In the best cases
trials bring growth and elevate faith to new levels

The answer to the
challenges of trial is not to protect a person from them, for then we would
never see the fruit of those whose trial brings such amazing growth. The answer
is

Monday, March 25, 2013

For ye, brethren, became followers of the
churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ
Jesus: for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as
they have of the Jews:

Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own
prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to
all men:

Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they
might be saved, to fill up their sins alway: for the wrath is come upon them to
the uttermost.

But we, brethren, being taken from you for a
short time in presence, not in heart, endeavoured the more abundantly to see
your face with great desire.

Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I
Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us.

The
Apostle is giving his description of the contest he had experienced in
Thessalonica. Though the Gentiles there experienced oppression and persecution
from their own countrymen Paul's trouble came from the Jews who had forbidden
him to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles that they might be saved. Paul
extended that trouble to a spiritual level and exclaimed that the problem was
Satan's hindrance.

And so we
may view any hindrance to getting the Gospel to a lost soul. It is the work of
Satan.

When a border prevents a missionary from
crossing it is Satan's hindrance

When a religious group refuses to welcome a
missionary into a community it is Satan's hindrance

When violence breaks out and missionaries are
forced to flee (or worse) it is Satan's hindrance

When economic problems prevent a once
generous congregation from giving as they once did, it is Satan's
hindrance

When a people who used to support missions
turn inward and selfish, it is Satan's hindrance

Sunday, March 24, 2013

O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open
thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy
name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our
righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies.

Daniel 9:26 KJV

And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah
be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come
shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a
flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.

There is
a striking contrast between these two verses.

In the first Daniel prays not according to
his own righteousness but depending upon the mercies of God

In the later, Messiah is cut off not for
His own sins but for another's

Man
depends upon the mercies of God because he is not righteous. God, who is all
righteous, pays the absolute price because He is absolutely merciful. Our
relationship with God is completely a one way street.

From God to man flows freely mercy and
grace and forgiveness and pardon

Saturday, March 23, 2013

I beheld, and the same horn made war with the
saints, and prevailed against them;

Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was
given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints
possessed the kingdom.

A truth
that holds consistent through the Bible is that the kingdoms of this world
prevail until Christ comes. These earthly, worldly kingdoms are at their very
best, only the works of sin filled men.

They use people and wear out the saints

They exist in pretense to bring order but
they always end up devouring their own citizens

Daniel
served in and loved the kings of two empires (although I do not believe he
loved Belshazzar, but only his father, Nebuchadnezzar). But even then his loyalties
were to the Lord as is evidenced by his prayers even after being ordered not to
pray.

Friday, March 22, 2013

I make a decree, That in every dominion of my
kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living
God, and stedfast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed,
and his dominion shall be even unto the end.

Darius
knew of whence he spoke when he said that God's kingdom would never be
destroyed. Darius had personally defeated the previous kingdom of Babylon
and, as the preceding events had unfolded, witnessed the seeds of weakness and
destruction in his own kingdom. He ruled the greatest empire of his day but
could not prevent petty jealousy among his own cabinet or the execution[1]
of his most valuable staff member. As powerful as he was, he recognized his own
sense of powerless.

Enter
now, the God of Daniel, who was able to override the plans of manipulative men
and save the life of His righteous follower.

No
kingdom or government of men is worthy the loyalties of men. Our loyalties must
always be toward God. Only then will we make trustworthy citizens of any
nation.

Thursday, March 21, 2013

And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

The three Hebrews are
remembered for the amazing deliverance of the Lord from the furnace. There they
were, walking in the midst of the fire, and even greater, the Son of God was
walking there with them.

But it must be remembered
that, before this amazing deliverance there was first an awful trial.

Before they could walk in
the midst of the furnace they first had to fall down into the furnace.

No doubt many amazing
deliverances have been lost because the prospect avoided the preceding
fall

No doubt many a would
be victor has never been discovered because he would not first experience
defeat

Of course the three never
did surrender to Nebuchadnezzar's demand to bow before the idol. Their
submission was to God. Though it appeared they were defeated, they were in fact
only falling to be caught up into the blessings of the Lord.

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Whom we preach,
warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present
every man perfect in Christ Jesus:

Whereunto I
also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.

Warning every man

Teaching every man

That we may present
every man

The labor of the Gospel is
a labor geared toward every man. We find ourselves in a position where, though
we have a congregation to minister to, our work is not done because it does not
yet include every man.

It is a high
expectation

It is a daunting
expectation

It is an unlimited
expectation

One might say

It is an impossible
and unrealistic expectation

But it is a reasonable goal
because anything less would be careless of souls.

If one man can be left
out

If even one could be
forsaken of us

then anyone may be forsaken
of us. We would quickly degenerate into concern only for those we are pleased
to have concern for. We could develop preferences for certain people which
would then lead to prejudices against certain people.

The Bible places no
boundaries on our responsibilities. We must reach every man.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Afterward he brought me again unto the door of
the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house
eastward: for the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters
came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south side of the
altar.

Then brought he me out of the way of the gate
northward, and led me about the way without unto the utter gate by the way that
looketh eastward; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side.

I understand that this
chapter has its fulfillment in the Millennium when Christ sets His feet on the
Mount of Olives and water proceeds to the Dead Sea
and brings it to life. I understand any types and metaphors we find in any
passage are subject to a huge degree on human speculation and care must be
taken. But I find in this chapter such symbolism that it seems appropriate at
least for meditation and consideration

The house equals Christ

It will be His coming
when the water proceeds from the Temple

It was His first
coming when He referred to His body as a temple

All life proceeds from Him.
Nothing is that hasn't been made alive through Him.

The river equals the Holy
Spirit

Flowing out of Christ and
proceeding to bring life and regeneration to all who are born again.

The fishers may equal the
Apostles.

They are the foundation
upon which the work of Christ is built. It was to them directly that Jesus said
"Follow me and I will make
you to become fishers of men."

The fruit trees would equal
the churches

Not one church as the
Catholics claim it, but multitudes of churches

Following the stream
of the Holy Spirit,

Deriving their lives
from it and

Producing fruit through
it

Symbolism is only
beneficial for training and motivating purposes. There is no doctrine here but
only a picture of the doctrine that already exists in the New Testament.

Monday, March 18, 2013

(For many walk, of whom I have told you often,
and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of
Christ:

Whose end is destruction, whose God is their
belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)

The
Apostle believed it to be proper to tell those he loved about, and to warn them
about, professing Christians who are enemies of the cross. Various commentaries
confirm that he is referencing believers and suggest they are Judaizers. If
this is so, their tactic is employed even today by those who take a gospel
ministry and pervert it. They do not create a work of their own; they are only
able to ruin one that has been created. The key to the passage is that Paul,
though weeping, kept warning those who would listen about professing Christians
who become enemies of the Cross through compromise with the world.

I know
what it is like to weep over loved ones who have become enemies of the Cross
through worldliness. Not that they have quit their profession of faith, or even
their work of ministry, but that they have so compromised it with worldliness
that it is no longer a work of the Lord. It is not a grief that may be gotten
over. I weep as I warn others about it again and again. Years now have gone by
and the tears are as fresh today as they were in the beginning of the
perversion. I cannot quit weeping over it because I cannot stop telling others
and warning them.

As
children of God we must take note of those who walk the way we were originally
taught, and follow them carefully, because there are many who would love to
take the people of God and lead them down a path of compromise and worldliness.

Sunday, March 17, 2013

For indeed he
was sick nigh unto death: but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on
me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.

The book
of Philippians is a book of joy and rejoicing. This is where we hear "Rejoice in the Lord alway and again I say
rejoice." [1]

This is
where we hear, "Be
careful for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." [2]

But
Philippians does not deny the natural sorrows of life when suffering.

The
Apostle was suffering.

He was in prison

He had lost a good deal of companionship

He had seen Demand forsake him and

He had grieved that Epaphroditus was sick

God's
mercy had been shown to Epaphroditus in healing him but also to Paul. He
confesses his sorrow would have been compounded by the loss.

Sorrow is
normal and natural. It is a part of what it means to be human. It is right and
proper and healthy to sorrow. But it should never stifle us. God's mercy is
always available and God's grace is always sufficient.

Sorrow
when appropriate. But in sorrow seek the Lord. Find his grace for strength and
recover joy.

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Even as it is meet for me to think this of you
all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the
defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace.

The
Christian life is not about people, but it is about sharing with people. So
Paul, who is merely an messenger and instrument used of the Lord both sees
himself as tied into the work of God and sharing it with others. He expresses
three possessions

My heart

My bonds

My grace

In every
case the possession goes back to God

His heart was filled with compassion for
these believers because God had given him a heart for the Gentiles

His bonds were real and the product of his
ministry

His grace was his as God had given him
grace both to serve and to suffer as he did

In every
case his possession moved forward to the believers at Philippi

His heart was filled with love for these
saints

His bonds had offered them occasion to
ministry to him as he had ministered to them

His grace had extended to them so that they
were partakers of the very grace that sustained Paul in his trouble

And so is
the gospel of Christ. It is passed from faith to faith. One who has received
from the Lord becomes the channel whereby another receives. One day the one who
has received will testify he received not from the channel but from the Lord
and will become a channel in his own right.

Friday, March 15, 2013

Peace be to
the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ.

What an interesting phrase. It is a
closing remark but carries the tone of a command. "When you love, do it
with faith." The word “with” is a preposition used as an adverb. It
describes an action and is sometimes translated “after” and “behind.”

The
principle then is simple; we are to love with our faith

Faith becomes the enabler of our love and
our love is to be preceded by our faith. Believing God is the catalyst for
love. Love should never override faith. We do not love others before our faith
but we have faith in God and therefore love others.

This
priority between love and faith will change the influence love has upon us

Many people have love ahead of faith and
are drawn down paths of spiritual destruction because of it. They make their
decisions based upon the emotional influences of love and abandon principles of
faith as a result. On the other hand, if faith in God is our priority (as we
see it ought to be through the Ten Commandments) we still love others, perhaps
even more intensely, but we never put that before the Lord.

We serve the Lord first and consequently we
are better able to love, and lead others to love as well.

Thursday, March 14, 2013

For ye were
sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of
light:

The Bible does not say these believers
were once in darkness but now are in the light, he says they once were
darkness and now are light. They have not simply moved

·From one place to
another but

·From one state of being
to another

This could not be mere semantics. It is
not a slip of the anointed pen. It isn't six in one, half a dozen the other.
This is a deliberate and meaningful difference and changes the whole meaning of
Christianity. A Christian is not simply someone who has changed positions; he
is someone who has been changed fundamentally. He is a new creature.

This also bears out the absolute
conviction that he did not do this himself.

·A man can change from a
dark room to a light one

·A man can choose to go
from a state of ignorance to one of education but

·A man can never choose
to change the sort of being he is

A miracle is implicit here. A law of
nature has been broken. What cannot happen, has happened. Darkness has become
light. God has done this thing.

His Name Is Jesus

About Me

I was born in the Pacific Northwest and have lived the majority of my life right here. I became a Christian at the age of 18. God has allowed me to pastor Baptist churches in Washington and Oregon for the better part of 30 years. I have also enjoyed the opportunity to serve as the executive vice president of Pacific Coast Baptist Bible College in San Dimas, CA and move with the college to become Heartland Baptist Bible College in Oklahoma City, OK.